Jealousy
by twistedcommunication
Summary: Marissa's jealous...
1. Chapter 1

Of all the people Alex could have chosen to get involved with, she chose the one who would lead her straight back to Newport. She was even back in her old job, and her old apartment. It was almost like she never left, except it was a different girl that she now shared her bed with and woke up next to in the mornings.

Marissa was slowly trying to rebuild her relationship with Ryan. So far, it was going well, and she was happy with him. She thought she should give him a chance, and she was glad that it was working out at the moment.

Alex had decided to o back to school, when she'd said that to Marissa she had meant it. However, her only option in terms of schools was Harbor High, if she wanted to stay with her girl. It was the only school within the area that she hadn't been kicked out of. The very thought of attending that school terrified her, if she were honest with herself, but finishing her education was something she was determined to do.

Alex had told Rachel, her girlfriend, all about Newport, and why she had left, so that she would understand why Alex didn't want to come back. She loved Rachel, she really did, but she wasn't in love with her the way she should be. They weren't the same feelings that she used to have for Marissa, and still had to some degree, where she had felt like nothing in the world mattered except for Marissa. Alex let it go, hoping that given time, she'd eventually feel that way for Rachel.

Rachel was working at the moment, but Alex's first shift wasn't until tomorrow. After school. The thought of school made Alex shudder. She could hardly believe that she was going back to school, and the fact that it was one where she had to see Marissa every day was even worse.

It seemed like Rachel wasn't the jealous type, because she hadn't seemed bothered by this fact. Then again, Alex had insisted that she was completely over Marissa, and that Rachel had nothing to worry about. Either way, Alex was glad about her lack of jealousy, because that had been the hardest thing to deal with in her and Jodie's relationship.

Hearing the front door open, stirring her from her thoughts, she got up to greet Rachel at the door. She kissed her lightly on the lips, before hugging her tightly.

" I missed you," she said.

" I haven't been gone long," said Rachel, laughing slightly.

" I know, but I still missed you," said, kissing her again.

" I picked us up some food," said Rachel, holding up a bag.

" Rach, you think a chef would enjoy cooking more."

" I do, but that's my job, and I don't want to feel like I'm working at home."

" You're cute," said Alex, stealing another kiss and taking the bag from Rachel's hand.

Marissa woke up to the shrill sound of her alarm clock. Why did she set that damn thing again? Oh, that's right, she had to get up for school. She dragged herself out of bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she wandered into the bathroom. She needed a cold shower to wake her up in the mornings. She'd been having some really weird dreams lately, too, which didn't help with her tired state in the morning.

Ryan arrived to pick her up as he had been doing every morning recently. She greeted him with a brief kiss on the lips; her mother was watching them, and still didn't wholly approve of their relationship. Taking her hand, he led her to his car and opened the door for her. She smiled at him and climbed in.

Meanwhile, at Alex and Rachel's place, Alex was freaking out. Rachel grabbed hold of her hands in an effort to calm her down, looking into her eyes.

" Al, you'll be fine," she said. Moving her hand up to cup Alex's face, she continued, " I promise." She kissed Alex's cheek quickly before moving away and telling Alex she needed to hurry up if she didn't want to be late. They finally left after some more freaking out from Alex, which amused Rachel no end, because Alex was usually so calm. Rachel was dropping Alex off on her way to work.

When they reached the school, Alex was visibly tense again. Rachel reached across to her, brushing a lock of hair out of her face and saying,

" I don't know why you're so worried, Al. It's just school."

" Right, just school," Alex repeated. " I can do this," she said, a determined look on her face. She gave Rachel a long kiss goodbye, and then turned to wave at her when she got out of the car. Rachel mouthed " Good Luck" to her before she drove away.

Alex had been at so many different schools that she knew the routine by heart now. Report to the principal, receive her schedule, and be shown around by random student number 33. First thing, she went to the principal, not looking forward to the talk she would have with him.

After receiving the same talk she received every time she started at a new school, the principal said,

" Well now we're just waiting on the student who'll be showing you around. She should be here any minute," he said, looking at his watch, " but the girl has never been on time for anything in her life.

The door opened, and a breathless Summer burst through it.

" Sorry I'm late, Sir, but…" she said, neglecting to finish her sentence.

" But…" said the principal, indicating that she should continue with an explanation of her tardiness.

" I don't know why I'm late, Sir," she said, frowning in a confused manner. " I thought I had plenty of time, but I didn't," she continued. Finally looking away from the principal to the rest of the room, her eyes fell on Alex's face.

" You're the new student?" she said, her shock clear in both the way she said the words and the comically shocked expression on her face.

" You two know each other?" asked the principal. Without waiting for a response, he said, " That's great. Alex, follow Summer, she'll show you where to go."

Alex stood up and followed Summer out of the principal's office.

" What are you doing? Does Marissa know you're here? How long do you plan on staying for?" asked Summer, asking all of her questions in one breath.

" Whoa, slow down and breathe, Summer. And to answer your questions, I'm here because it's the only school I haven't been kicked out of around here, no Marissa doesn't know I'm here, and I plan on staying until I graduate. Now, not that I mind answering your questions or anything, but I have no idea where I have to go now."

" Sorry," said Summer. " Lemme see your schedule," she said, taking it from Alex's hand without waiting for a response.

"Okay, you have the same class as me first, and second. All day, actually," she said, her eyes scanning over the piece of paper. " So you can just follow me," she said. Alex debated the sensibility of this, after all it would only bring her into contact with Marissa sooner, and then decided she didn't really have a choice.

" Okay, great. Now shouldn't we actually be going to the classes," she asked pointedly.

" Right," said Summer, leading her to a classroom on their left and opening the door. She motioned to Alex to sit down beside her, and Alex did so, wondering why Summer was being so nice to her. She then remembered Marissa saying that Summer was generally that way, unless you'd done something to piss her off. She thought about how she should have got to know Summer a little better when she was here before. Summer was thinking the same thing. To Summer, Alex had simply been 'Seth's girlfriend' and then she had been ' Marissa's girlfriend', and Summer hadn't really known anything about her beyond that and where she worked. Maybe if she'd made more of an effort, it would have been easier for Alex and Marissa to stay together. She felt a little guilty now she was spending this time with Alex for not trying a little harder to stop Seth from interfering.

She turned to Alex, and said,

" So why Newport?"

" Why Newport what?" asked Alex, not quite sure of Summer's meaning.

" Of all the places in this country, where you could have gone back to school, why come back here?"

" It's not exactly my first choice," said Alex, grimacing slightly. Off Summer's confused look, she said,

" My girlfriend's brother lives here. She wanted to live near him, and he didn't want to move, so she did."

" Girlfriend?" questioned Summer.

" Yeah…" said Alex slowly, wondering why Alex seemed to be so confused by this information.

" That you moved town to be with?" continued Summer.

Alex just nodded in response.

" Oh," said Summer, seeming a little disappointed. Even though she was glad that Marissa was happy with Ryan, she thought that she would be far happier with Alex. They were better for each other. But it seemed that Alex had moved on already, which just wrecked all of Summer's plans. It was probably a good thing; after all, she told Seth off multiple times for interfering. It wouldn't be right for her to start meddling in other people's relationships too.

" I'd like to meet her sometime," said Summer. As well as being curious about the girl, Summer thought she should try and be friends with Alex.

" Sure," replied Alex, before returning to her notes. She didn't want to start failing her classes already. She wondered how long it would be before she ran into Marissa.


	2. Chapter 2

As Summer spotted Marissa heading towards her, she ducked out of the way, so Marissa wouldn't be able to see her. Alex looked at her confused. Summer just gave her a warning look in response, gesturing to her to stay out of the way. As Alex opened her mouth to ask what the hell Summer was doing, Summer shook her head violently, watching as Marissa looked around, a confused expression on her face, before walking in the opposite direction.

Summer pulled Alex out from behind the lockers, saying,

"Come on, we're going to be late for class."

"Summer?"  
"Yeah?"

"Why are you avoiding Marissa?"

"I'm not, "said Summer. "You are, because I don't want her to see you yet."

" Why not?"

Summer's expression shifted as she struggled to think of a reason, when she wasn't even sure herself.

"I just, you know, she'd be shocked. We'll tell her at lunch, k?"

Alex just went along with whatever Summer was talking about, following her up the stairs and around the corner to their next class. She sat down beside her again, still curious about Summer's avoidance of Marissa. It just didn't make sense to her. Maybe it was just a Summer thing, that she was never going to get. She decided that's what it was.

Marissa's POV:

"I wonder what's wrong with Summer. She can't seriously think I didn't notice her avoiding me back there. I'm going to have to talk to her later," Marissa thought, as she sat in class, bored out of her mind. Ryan was sat next to her, but he appeared to be sleeping with his eyes open, so she couldn't even talk to him to distract herself from her boredom. She nudged Ryan, trying to get him out of his stupor. He didn't move. She poked him again, harder this time, but it was like he didn't feel it. Getting frustrated, she asked the teacher if she could go to the bathroom. When he said yes, she got up and walked out of the classroom quickly.

She leaned against the wall outside for a second, wishing she hadn't come today. She felt stifled, and on top of that, Summer was acting strangely today, and she couldn't even keep Ryan interested enough in her to stay awake. She pushed herself back into an upright position, planning on skipping the rest of her classes. She just wasn't in the mood for them today.

As she walked along towards the stairs, she saw Summer coming up them, along with someone else. Great, she could talk to Summer and ask her what that thing was about earlier. As Summer saw her, however, she abruptly turned around and walked in the opposite direction. Marissa looked frustrated, and ran down the stairs after her, finding her stood at the bottom as if she'd been there the whole time.

"Hey Coop, "she said, an innocent expression on her face. Too innocent, in fact.

" Why are you avoiding me, Sum?" asked Marissa, sounding a little upset. Summer immediately felt really bad.

" Promise not to freak out if I tell you?"

"Yeah, I promise."

" I've been seeing dead people," said Summer in a matter of fact tone.

" Stop stalling, Sum, and tell me what's really going on."

"Fine," she said, sighing. " I didn't want you to see Alex."

" Sum, I haven't being seeing Alex for a while now," said Marissa, looking utterly bewildered now. " Besides, I thought you were okay with it."

" Not that kind of seeing, Coop! Seeing, seeing, you know, literally, with eyes?"

" Well, what the hell are you talking about, Sum?"

" Alex goes to school here now."

" So how come I haven't seen her?"

Summer threw her hands in the air. " That is what this entire conversation has been about," she said.

" You don't want me to see her?" she asked, finally understanding what Summer was going on about, well sort of at least.

" I just thought it might be weird for you, that's all."  
" So you were just going to hide her for the entire school year? And anyway, what makes you think it would be weird for me?"

Summer looked at her like it was obvious. " She is your ex, Coop."

Marissa shrugged. " I'm with Ryan now," she said. " Alex was a friend before she was my girlfriend, I'm sure we can be friends again."

Summer looked panicked for a second. " Damn," she said. " I'm supposed to be fetching something quickly. Mr. Johnson is gonna kill me. Bye," she said hurriedly, as she left to go and fetch whatever it was she was supposed to be fetching.

Despite what Marissa had just told Summer, she was feeling a little weird at the prospect of seeing Alex again. There had been no contact with her since she left, and while Marissa missed that, she was, if she were completely honest with herself, afraid of her old feelings getting in the way of a potential friendship. She quickly shook those thoughts off, though, she was happy with Ryan, and there had been a reason for her and Alex breaking up. They hadn't been working together as a couple. Maybe it would be better this time around, when they weren't leading up to something more. She wondered how long it would be before she actually had a chance to speak to Alex.

She still didn't want to stay here today, she didn't want to have to deal with people. She wondered what Ryan would think of her being friends with Alex. She wouldn't like him to be friends with his ex, after all. This was different though, it wasn't like she was thinking of Alex that way anymore. She decided not to mention it to him, for now, though. It might make him angry, or upset or something.

She went to her car quickly, before the bell rang and her chances of escaping from this place lessened. She felt a little bad for not informing her friends that she was leaving, but she felt like she needed some space to think. Which had absolutely nothing to do with Alex, she told herself firmly.


	3. Chapter 3

Summer finally returned to her class, 20 minutes later than she should have done.  
« Get sidetracked, did we Miss Roberts ? » asked the teacher. « That's detention for you today, you've missed half my lesson ».  
Summer, too preoccupied to answer, just nodded her head. She took a seat next to Alex, intending to tell her what had happened with Marissa just now. As she leaned in to whisper to her, however, the techer cut her off.  
« That'll be two detentions, if you're not careful, » he said pointedly. Summer just rolled her eyes, and went back to what she was supposed to be doing. Alex was looking at her curiously, but she just motioned that she would tell her later.  
Meanwhile, Ryan had awoken, finally, in his classroom, only to wonder where the hell Marissa had disappeared to. He only wondered about this for a second, however, as he fell asleep again shortly.  
Marissa was sat outside her house in her car, as she had seen her mother go into the house moments before, and had narrowly avoided being seen. She was waiting a while to be sure it would be safe for her to go in without the threat of her mum sending her back to school.

At school, the bell rang, signalling the end of the second to last lesson today. Summer practically dragged Alex outside the classroom, eager to let her know she had told Marissa that she was here.  
« Slow down, Summer. I didn't realise you liked history that much, » said Alex, laughing at Summer's haste to get to their next class.   
« What ? I don't, it's boring, » she said. « I just wanted to talk to yyou. »  
« Well ? » said Alex when Summer didn't continue.  
« Oh, right, » said Summer, finally grasping that this was where she was supposed to tell Alex. « I told Marissa that you're going to school here. She seemed a little surprised, but cool with it. She thinks you can be friends. That's good, right ? I mean, you do want to be friends with her, right ? Cause she'll think it's weird else, and she'll be all, like, disappointed…  
« Summer ? »  
« Mmm ? »  
« Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much ? »  
« A few times, yeah. Personally, I don't think that I do… » As she was about to launch into an explanation of why she didn't talk too much, she caught the expression on Alex's face.  
« I'm doing it again, aren't I ? »  
Alex just laughed. « Where is Marissa anyway ? » she asked.  
« That is a good question. She's supposed to be here now. She msut be skipping school again, I'm gonna have to talk to her about that, » said Summer.  
« She's been skipping a lot recently ? » asked Alex, concern just evident in her voice. « Is she okay ? »  
Summer bit her lip. « I think so, » she said, not wanting to worry Alex. « Besides, she's got Ryan now anyway. I'm sure if there's anything wrong, it'll be sorted out in no time. »  
Summer noticed the quickly hidden expression on Alex's face when she heard Ryan's name mentioned, but didn't say anything about it right then. Maybe Alex wasn't quite as fine with her and Marissa's break up as she first appeared. Summer stored that information away for later, it could be useful. Oh, but she wasn't supposed to be interfering. Damn, she had forgotten about that.

Later, Alex offered to drop Summer home, due to the fact that Marissa was supposed to take her, and Summer had to complete her detention. Alex had to sort something out anyway, so she didn't mind waiting. When they arrived at Summer's house, it was to find Marissa witing on the doorsetp.  
« Coop ? What are you doing waiting outside ? You know where the spare key is kept, » said Summer.  
« I only just got here, and anyway, I'm not stay… » she trailed off as she saw Alex. Deciding to act as if nothing had happened, she smiled at her.  
« Hi, Alex. »  
« Hey, » Alex replied quietly. « Look, I'd better go, » she said, turning to leave.  
« You can stay if you want, » said Summer.  
« No, Rachel's waiting, » she said. « I'll see you tomorrow. » She looked over at Marissa. « Bye Marissa. »  
Marissa replied, feeling a little awkward. Well, she guessed she couldn't expect things to be fine between them straight away.  
When Alex had left, Marissa turned to Summer, frowning. " Who's Rachel?" she asked.  
" Oh, Alex's girlfriend," she said casually, unlocking her front door. " You coming in?" she asked as Marissa just stood there on the doorstep, an unfamiliar feeling in her stomach at Summer's words. Shaking herself out of her stupor, she said, " Sure, but I can't stay long. My mom wants to have dinner with me; I think she's up to something.  
" Isn't she always?" replied Summer. " Where were you this afternoon, anyway?" asked Summer, none too subtly.  
" Oh, you know, around," said Marissa evasively.  
Summer looked at her pointedly.  
" I just had some stuff to think about," was her next attempt at an explanation.  
" Alex stuff?" asked Summer slyly.  
" What? No, I already told you, there's nothing between us anymore."  
" Didn't look like it a second ago," said Summer.  
" Why are you pushing this, Summ? We've both moved on, okay?"  
Summer simply nodded, looking a little surprised. Marissa had never snapped at her like that. At other people, yes, but not at Summer. She must have hit a nerve, thought Summer. Not wanting to upset Marissa, or get snapped at again, she didn't say anything else on the subject. When she thought enough time had passed, however, which, in Summer's world, was about ten minutes, she asked Marissa what she thought about inviting Alex to go out with them at the weekend.  
" Alex hates shopping, Sum," said Marissa.  
Summer's eyes widened. " She WHAT?" she practically screeched. " Well, that settles it, she has to come. I have to change her mind. Besides, it'll be good for the two of you. Make things, you know, less awkward."  
" Fine then, Sum," said Marissa resigning herself to the fact that she was going to have to spend a very awkward Saturday with her best friend and her ex-girlfriend. " You can ask her in school tomorrow."  
Summer smiled. " Great! This is gonna be so much fun…"


End file.
